• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military

2

'We are rapidly running out of time': Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032

3

Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there

1

Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military

2

'We are rapidly running out of time': Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032

3

Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
NewslettersBull Sheet

Vaccine breakthroughs are unleashing a ‘value rally.’ Here’s what investors should know

By
Bernhard Warner
Bernhard Warner
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Bernhard Warner
Bernhard Warner
Down Arrow Button Icon
November 17, 2020, 4:46 AM ET

This is the web version of the Bull Sheet, Fortune’s no-BS daily newsletter on the markets. Sign up to receive it in your inbox here.

Good morning, Bull Sheeters. It appears investors are doing a bit of profit-taking as global stocks and U.S. futures dip in early Tuesday trading.

That’s after Monday’s Moderna rally pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 into record territory with investors once again piling into value stocks (more on that below).

Let’s check in on the action.

Markets update

Asia

  • The major Asia indexes are mostly higher in afternoon trading with Japan’s Nikkei up 0.4%.
  • To shield its business from further U.S. sanctions, Huawei Technologies is selling its budget telecoms carrier Honor. There’s no price tag on the deal, but previous speculation was Honor would fetch about $15.2 billion in a sale.
  • Currencies for commodity-dependent economies—think the Aussie dollar and Norwegian kroner—are pegged as the big currency winners for 2021. That’s because the dollar is predicted to plummet by as much as 20% in the year ahead, Citigroup says.

Europe

  • The European bourses were flat at the open with the Europe Stoxx 600 down 0.1% 30 minutes into the trading session.
  • The European Union’s €1.8 trillion COVID recovery plan is now under threat. Hungary and Poland are threatening to veto the aid package on grounds the proposal makes it easier for Brussels to slap sanctions on countries that flout the rule-of-law.
  • The collapse of Wirecard is now nearly complete after the scandal-rocked German fintech agreed to sell core technology to Spain’s Banco Santander. The financial terms were not disclosed.

U.S.

  • The U.S. futures point to a weak open today. That’s after all three indexes rallied on the Moderna news, pushing the Dow and S&P 500 to new all-time highs.
  • Moderna closed up nearly 10% yesterday following its blockbuster vaccine trial news. It’s up more than 400% this year. It’s having a very good pandemic.
  • Shares in Tesla are up 13% in pre-market trading after gatekeepers at the S&P 500 admitted the high-flying EV maker onto the index, ending months of speculation. (I admit it, I didn’t think it would happen this quickly considering Tesla’s profits come from the rapidly disappearing business of selling carbon permits; it still loses money making cars.)
  • U.S. retail sales will be released before the bell.

Elsewhere

  • Gold is flat, trading around $1,885/ounce.
  • The dollar is down.
  • Crude is up with Brent trading above $44/barrel.
  • Bitcoin is up 3% in the past 24 hours, trading above $16,750.

***

The value trade

Is the value rally for real?

Following yesterday’s Moderna vaccine news, the Dow and S&P rocketed to fresh all-time highs with the unloved misfits of the market—energy, financials and industrials—leading the way higher.

This has been the case for much of the past week, ever since the Pfizer, the first of the bunch, announced on Nov. 9 its promising COVID trial progress. The optimism of a vaccine is creating a big rotational shift out of growth stocks and into beaten-down value stocks. You can see this play out in the likes of energy and financials stocks, both ratcheting up impressive gains recently, as the chart shows.

Energy is now up 17% in the past month, outperforming the broader S&P 500 by a multiple of >4X. Financials are up about 3X on the S&P over the same period.

J.P. Morgan head of global and European equity strategy Mislav Matejka reckons the value trade has legs. “Our base case is that we could have 3-4 quarters worth of rotation, similar to the length of the ’16-’17 trade,” he wrote in an investor note.

Brian Price, head of investment management for Commonwealth Financial Network, concurs.

“It’s encouraging that we’re seeing a rotation from growth and momentum-oriented stocks to value and cyclical names,” he detailed yesterday as the markets were booming. “The more discussion about local economies reopening and a decreased risk of significant lockdowns should continue to support this trade for the time being.  We’ve seen similar value, cyclical rallies in the past but these periods have been short-lived as growth, momentum sectors eventually reasserted their leadership. Any sustained move towards fewer lockdowns should continue to support value-oriented sectors of the market for the foreseeable future.”

These developments bode well for those of you long core Dow stocks. The blue chip index is a whisker away from 30,000. The value stocks will likely push it above that milestone.     

***

Have a nice day, everyone. I’ll see you here tomorrow. 

Bernhard Warner
@BernhardWarner
Bernhard.Warner@Fortune.com

As always, you can write to bullsheet@fortune.com or reply to this email with suggestions and feedback.

Today's read

Crop yield. For those of you who've caught the baking bug, this won't surprise you. Futures prices for such staples as soybeans, corn and hard red winter wheat are up nearly one-third over the past three months, according to the Wall Street Journal. A number of factors are at play in the price rise, including surging demand from China and, yes, the home-bakers movement. I foresee another run on bread-making ingredients in the near future.

Some of these stories require a subscription to access. There is a discount offer for our loyal readers if you use this link to sign up. Thank you for supporting our journalism.

Market candy

-72%

Airbnb's long awaited pre-IPO filing was released yesterday, and it made for some rough reading. Airbnb disclosing it saw a staggering 72% coronavirus hit to revenues (in year-on-year terms). Fortune's Danielle Abril pores through the filing, detailing the big takeaways for those of you thinking about getting in on its IPO. 

About the Author
By Bernhard Warner
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Newsletters

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Newsletters

Businesswoman working at desk with laptop and documents in office
NewslettersCFO Daily
Finance teams can’t quit Excel. Workday wants to change that with AI
By Sheryl EstradaJune 10, 2026
3 hours ago
Health care’s AI dividend is real. The fight now is over who reaps the gains
NewslettersCEO Daily
Health care’s AI dividend is real. The fight now is over who reaps the gains
By Diane BradyJune 10, 2026
7 hours ago
JB Straubel, co-founder of Tesla and founder and CEO of Redwood Materials, speaking at Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2026 in Aspen, Colorado. (Photo: Michael Faas/Fortune)
NewslettersFortune Tech
Why China is outpacing the U.S. power grid
By Andrew NuscaJune 10, 2026
7 hours ago
Trump speaking into a mic.
NewslettersEye on AI
Should Americans get an equity stake in AI? Trump and progressive Democrats float public ownership of AI
By Beatrice NolanJune 9, 2026
21 hours ago
Meet the Walmart exec who runs a $96 billion business that would sit between Tesla and Target on the Fortune 500
NewslettersMPW Daily
Meet the Walmart exec who runs a $96 billion business that would sit between Tesla and Target on the Fortune 500
By Emma HinchliffeJune 9, 2026
1 day ago
Exclusive: The startup that’s dressing up crypto for Wall Street raises $175 million in a round led by a16z crypto, Paradigm, and Ribbit Capital
NewslettersTerm Sheet
Exclusive: The startup that’s dressing up crypto for Wall Street raises $175 million in a round led by a16z crypto, Paradigm, and Ribbit Capital
By Ben WeissJune 9, 2026
1 day ago

Most Popular

Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military
Asia
Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military
By Kate O'Keeffe and BloombergJune 8, 2026
2 days ago
'We are rapidly running out of time': Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032
Economy
'We are rapidly running out of time': Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032
By Nick LichtenbergJune 9, 2026
23 hours ago
Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
Success
Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
By Preston ForeJune 8, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of June 9, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 9, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 9, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of silver as of Tuesday, June 9, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Tuesday, June 9, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 9, 2026
1 day ago
Wall Street dumped nearly $1 trillion in tech stocks by midday—then clawed it back and bought peanut butter and paint
Investing
Wall Street dumped nearly $1 trillion in tech stocks by midday—then clawed it back and bought peanut butter and paint
By Eva RoytburgJune 9, 2026
18 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.